Don’t Get Trapped in the “Direct Response Mill”
Posted on July 18th, 2008 by Michelle ShortDirect response television advertising has historically been a process of “buy it cheap, throw it up, and see what sticks.” With advertising expenditures of over $6B, no one here is disputing the return or effectiveness of DRTV. That approach can leave some advertisers with something to be desired when they are run through a typical “DR Mill.”
Many of our clients and prospects have told us that they feel left out of the process when dealing with large DR agencies. Some agencies effectively tell the clients, “just give us the budget and we will figure out the spends.” In effect, the client feels like they are being run through a mill in which they have little input into any elements of the process.
At Golden Media, we believe the most effective approach to Direct Response is to treat it as a marketing project instead of a simple media-buying exercise.
Case in point:
A client markets a training program for pediatric weight control and is unhappy with their current media-buyer. They are not getting the service or the planning they feel they deserve. The client wants to further test the program in similar markets but with different price points.
Golden Media looked at these basic elements:
- Target demographics
- Percentages of child obesity by state
- Parental ability to pay for the product
- The likelihood that a specific population will purchase the product.
We determined the likelihood based on several factors:
- Education levels
- Household income
- Weather
- Ethnicity
- Overall health/fitness rankings by city
- Social data
Then we looked at multiple psychographic factors including under the general headings of values, opinions, and lifestyles.
We factored in all of the elements to create the power score. We were able to show why the test had a greater chance for success, for example, in Pennsylvania than it did in Illinois. Another example was the state of Alaska, which has a high rate of childhood obesity and high HH income. But when we factored in the other elements, we found that it was not the most efficient test market.
The client’s comment: “You have put way more thought into this than our last media-buyer or anyone else we have talked to.”
With DR we want to increase the MER (media efficiency ratio) by carefully targeting the key prospects based on a several factors:
- Demographics
- Pyschographics
- Social data
- Qualitative research
- Geographic influences
After doing the research, we identify key advertising opportunities.
But the process continues with client collaboration. The “DR Mill” approach generally ignores client input or client awareness of certain market conditions.
Golden Media believes that it is important for the client to feel some involvement in how the advertising budget is deployed. So we work to gain consensus on the media plan. Our approach is to present the most intelligent plan but be flexible and sensitive to the needs, opinions, and values of the client.
It is a process that assures the client does not feel that theirs is just another budget that is being processed through a DR Mill.